here I am on the Adagio, waiting for the massive downstream gates to open on the Jamie Whitten Lock. I much prefer the original name--Bay Springs Lock--But ex-Mississippi congressman Whitten had to be paid for his pork. At 84 feet, this lock has the fourth highest lift (or drop) of any in the U.S. It is the northernmost in a series of ten that helped to create the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. This new route, completed in 1985, creates a shortcut from the Tennesse River to the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing the lower Mississippi, and accessing the Gulf at Mobile, AL. As with most massive man-made projects, there were losses: pastures and farmlands were turned into lakes, many native American historic sites were flooded, as were Civil War battlefields. And the 29 mile long "cut", or canal is in many places an unhealed scar on the landscape...not at all blended into its surroundings. But overall, the waterway is secluded and serene, with miles of forested shoreline and naturally eroded rock bluffs.

In the next photo, you are inside the lock, waiting to be raised to the level of Pickwick Lake and the Tennessee River. Millions of gallons of water are released from above the dam to the bottom of the lock, controlled by hydraulic valves. The entire vault is filled in about ten minutes.

Your boat is held securely to the lock wall by a floating bollard, so that no lines need to be adjusted during the process. This is a great convenience, compared to managing lines that hang from the top of the lock walls, and need to be taken in or paid out as the water level changes. Photograph 3 shows the midship section of the Adagio secured to the bollard.